My goal here is to educate readers about the state of US economy, our markets and our little slice of heaven here in the North Country. Maybe, just maybe, I'll even entertain you a bit.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

America's Economic Life Cycle

Every second grader can tell you what a life cycle looks like. Well, there's a pretty good analysis of economic life cycles that goes something like this....

Courtesy of 18th century Scottish historian Alexander Fraser Tytler:

"The average life span of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years" progressing from "bondage (British Rule) to spiritual faith (18th Century)... to great courage (Boston 1775)... to liberty (Viva La Revolucion) ... to abundance (early 20th century) ... to selfishness (1980s-2000)... to complacency (2003-2008)... to apathy (today) ... to dependence (???) and ... back into bondage!"

My only disagreement with Mr. Tytler would be that I don't foresee the US falling back into bondage, but I suppose you could argue that the massive amount of debt our government owes is a form of bondage. We'll see how this plays out, but history isn't on our side.

***********************************************************************I haven't touched on oil in awhile, but it's going to be an issue soon, if the current trends continue. Oil has soared from $30 to $80 in six months. Regular unleaded is likely to cross $3 again locally before Thanksgiving if the current trends continue. It's not a big move from $2.75 to $3.00 but psychologically, $3.09/gallon will be a tougher pill to swallow heading into the holidays.

4 comments:

The Hermit
said...

Bondage, he he. Better learn Mandrin Chinese. They hold massive US treasury holdings(our debt)They tried to buy some US ports, but were premature in their timing.They are buying the US, thank you WalMart. Next inline is Islamic terrorists in the US, demanding their rights. don't forget the illegal aliens and their rights.We had our 200 years, then some.The giant sleeps.

Donovan said: Who cares about debt? I don't. I say let's keep running it up and then go bankrupt. What is so bad about the endgame.. Who is owed the money? The banks, GREAT F@$^^ EM. Can't wait for the whole thing to implode and the banks die. Thanks Jesus.

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About Me

I grew up in La Fargeville before attending college in Manhattan and ultimately working on Wall Street for about 10 yrs. I left NYC/NJ in 2003 and relocated my family to the beautiful waterfront of Clayton, NY. I spend my days caring for my 2 daughters and dabbling in the markets.